Combined car-top carriers and shelters

ABSTRACT

A car-top carrier having a housing of generally rectangular configuration providing a top-opening main storage compartment and a side-opening secondary compartment. A pair of opposing side doors, mounted on vertical hinges, close the second compartment and swing open to provide supports for a tarpaulin unrolled from a shelf in the secondary compartment to form a protective shelter at one side of the automobile.

United States Patent Steinhoff [4 1 Mar. 28, 1972 [54] COMBINED CAR-TOPCARRIERS AND SHELTERS [72] Inventor: Neal K. Stelnhoff, Pioneer Place,Route #1, Verona, Wis. 53593 [22] Filed: Nov. 6, 1970 [21] Appl. No.:87,488

[52] US. Cl. ..224/42.0l, 296/23 R, 224/42.1 E [51] Int. Cl ..B60m 11/00 [58] Field of Search ..224/42.l E, 42.1 R, 42.1 H,

224/42.l B, 29, 42.01; 296/23 R, 23 A [56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 2,012,193 8/1935 Heinsen ,.296/23 R 3,008,784 11/1961Allard ...224/42.l E 2,710,977 6/1955 Fannin ..296/23 R X PrimaryExaminer-Gerald M. F orlenza Assistant Examiner-Jerold M. F orsbcrgAttorney-Joseph G. Werner, Theodore J. Long, John M. Winter and James A.Kemmeter ABSTRACT A car-top carrier having a housing of generallyrectangular configuration providing a top-opening main storagecompartment and a side-opening secondary compartment. A pair of opposingside doors, mounted on vertical hinges, close the second compartment andswing open to provide supports for a tarpaulin unrolled from a shelf inthe secondary compartment to form a protective shelter at one side ofthe automobile.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEU MAR 28 m2 SHEET 1 0F 2 INVENTOR;

NEAL K. STEINHOFF BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the InventionThis invention pertains generally to the field of camping and moreparticularly to a car-top carrier for transporting camping equipment andproviding a shelter for cooking and the like at the side of theautomobile.

2. Description of the Prior Art Car-top carriers have attained wide usein camping for transporting equipment and in facilitating campers to setup their camps quickly and easily. This latter quality is of specialimportance to those persons who travel each day between campsites. Theircamps are usually set up toward evening with the intention that they bedismantled the next morning and stored for that'days traveling.

Presently known carriers do not make adequate provision for theoccasions when the so-called traveling campers wish to interrupt theirjourney only to prepare a quick meal. It is, of course, certainlyimpractical to set up the entire camp for such an occasion. To the bestof my knowledge no car-top carriers are available on the market or knownthat provide separate storage compartments for food, cooking utensilsand the like and another compartment for general camping equipment suchas tents and luggage, nor are there any car-top carriers which providean extensible roof to provide a sheltered area at the side of thevehicle in conjunction with the cooking equipment compartment.

Several vehicle carried shelter tents are known in the art. U.S. Pat.No. 3,231,161 discloses a car-top luggage rack with an extensible tentframe. The tent itself is carried either on the luggage rack or in thevehicle. US. Pat. No. 3,186,419 shows a tent which is carried on the topof a station wagon and set up at the rear of the vehicle while US. Pat.No. 2,825,351 is directed to an automobile carried tent which is adaptedto be set up at the side of the automobile.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Recognizing the unfulfilled needs of campers, Ihave invented a unique car-top carrier and shelter unit.

The invention has a generally rectangular housing providing atop-opening main storage compartment of sufficient size to hold theusual supply of camping gear including a tent. A tarpaulin extends overthe main storage compartment and is releasable along two edges toprovide access to the compartment.

A side-opening secondary storage compartment is provided for food andcooking and eating utensils. A pair of horizontally swinging side doorsclose the secondary compartment. In open position, the doors providesupports for the other end of the tarpaulin which is rolled out over thedoors from a storage shelf in the secondary compartment to provide aprotected area at the side of the car for cooking and eating.

Other objects, features and advantages of my invention will be apparentfrom the following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the inventionhas been selected for exemplification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of thecar-top carrier and shelter combination showing the protective roof inextended position.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a car-top carrier and sheltercombination in closed or travel position.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the open-topped housing of the car-topcarrier.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the protectiveroof construction.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section view taken along line 55 in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now more particularly tothe drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout theseveral views, my car-top carrier and shelter unit is generally shown at20 in FIGS. 1 and 2 mounted on an automobile by suction cups 21 andstraps 22 in the well known manner. Other means of mounting could, ofcourse, be employed.

As best seen in FIG. 3, the unit has an open-topped housing 23 ofgenerally rectangular configuration providing a main storage compartment24, a secondary storage compartment 25, and a horizontal shelf 26extending below the top outer edge of the secondary compartment.

A tarpaulin 27 is fixedly secured to the carrier housing along two edgesby metal clamping strips 28 and 29 as best shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. Themain section 27a of the tarpaulin extends across the top of the carrierhousing closing the main storage compartment 24. Eyelets 30 are securedalong the rear and left edge of the tarpaulin. Hooks 31 are secured onthe back and left side of the carrier housing opposite the eyelets ofthe tarpaulin. A stretch rope 32 is threaded through the eyelets 30 andsecured at either end to the tarpaulin. The stretch rope 32 can then beeasily pulled down from the tarpaulin and attached over the hooks 31 tosecure the tarpaulin to the carrier housing and close the main storagecompartment. Conversely, the rope 32 can be quickly released from thehooks to provide access to the main storage compartment.

The secondary storage compartment 25 is open at the right side of thecarrier housing opposite the driver's side of the automobile. Side doors33 and 34 are mounted by substantially vertical hinges 35 near the endsof the right side of the carrier housing to permit the doors to swing ina substantially horizontal plane from a first position closing thesecondary storage compartment as shown in FIG. 2 to an extended openposition shown in FIGS. 1 and 4.

As shown in FIG. 5, a second section 27b of the tarpaulin 27 is storedin a compact rolled condition on the shelf 26 when the side doors 33 and34 are closed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, when the doors 33 and 34 are opened, thetarpaulin section 27b may be unrolled over the top of the doors andreleasably secured thereto by a series of eyelet holders 36. A metal orwooden slat 37 is fastened to the outer edge of tarpaulin section 27b tohold the side doors 33 and 34 in their open position. The slat 37 isalso useful to facilitate the rolling up of the tarpaulin section 27bfor storage when not in use.

Tl'le swinging side doors 33 and 34 have substantially upright portions33a and 34a which curve into transverse top portions 33b and 34b to forma cover for the tarpaulin shelf 26 when the doors are closed as shown inFIGS. 2 and 5. This particular construction has the advantage ofcompletely exposing the rolled tarpaulin when the doors are open tofacilitate the unrolling of the tarpaulin over the extended doors. Thetarpaulin can then be quickly attached by the eyelet holders on the topof the side doors to provide the protective shelter at the side of theautomobile.

It is preferred that the secondary compartment 25 be used exclusively tostore food and all eating and cooking utensils. Hooks 38 or otherfasteners may be attached to the inside surface of the side doors, asshown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and the walls of the secondary compartment, ifdesired, for hanging utensils and the like.

It is understood that my invention is not confined to the particularconstruction and arrangement of parts herein illustrated and described,but embraces all such modified forms thereof as come within the scope ofthe following claims.

I claim:

1. A car-top carrier comprising:

a. an open-topped housing of generally rectangular configuration havinga main and a secondary storage compartment,

compact rolled condition.

3. A car-top carrier as set forth in claim 2 wherein each of said sidedoors has a substantially upright portion closing said secondarycompartment and a transverse top portion extending over and forming acover for said shelf when said doors are in said first position.

4. A car-top carrier as set forth in claim 2 wherein said tarpaulinextends over said main storage compartment in said open-topped housing.

1. A car-top carrier comprising: a. an open-topped housing of generallyrectangular configuration having a main and a secondary storagecompartment, b. a pair of side doors mounted by substantially uprighthinges for swinging from a first position closing said secondary storagecompartment to an extended open position, c. a tarpaulin secured to saidhousing for extending outwardly over said doors in said open position,and d. means releasably securing said tarpaulin to said open doors.
 2. Acar-top carrier as set forth in claim 1 wherein a substantiallyhorizontal shelf extends below the top outer edge of said secondarycompartment for storing said tarpaulin in a compact rolled condition. 3.A car-top carrier as set forth in claim 2 wherein each of said sidedoors has a substantially upright portion closing said secondarycompartment and a transverse top portion extending over and forming acover for said shelf when said doors are in said first position.
 4. Acar-top carrier as set forth in claim 2 wherein said tarpaulin extendsover said main storage compartment in said open-topped housing.